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Tom Reed,who previously covered the Blue Jackets for The Dispatch, is back after a five-year absence while working for the newspaper in that city up north: Cleveland. Follow him on Twitter at @treed1919

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Morning Skate, No. 37

Posted Dec 29, 2011
by Aaron Portzline

The Blue Jackets were pleased with many aspects of Tuesday's 2-1 shootout loss to Calgary, so why change? It looks like the same lineup will be used tonight against the Dallas Stars in American Airlines Center. Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m.

The most peculiar aspect of the lineup is that Derick Brassard -- the club's leading scorer the last four games -- will remain parked on the fourth line with center Derek MacKenzie and right winger Jared Boll. Blue Jackets coach Scott Arniel said he'll continue to get Brassard power play time (2nd unit) to enhance his minutes, but that he wanted a right-shot on the right side of the second line.

That means Mark Letestu will stick with left winger Vinny Prospal and center Antoine Vermette on the second line.

Disclaimer: These are the lines shown in the morning skate and discussed in the media scrum afterward. They can always change, based on whim or injury. We'll have more on Arniel's line decisions in Friday's editions of The Dispatch.

The Blue Jackets will send goaltender Steve Mason out tonight, looking for his first road win. He's 0-8-0 with a .839 save percentage and 4.80 goals-against average away from Nationwide Arena.

Meanwhile, on the other end, Dallas welcomes back Kari Lehtonen after a one-month absence with a groin injury. Lehtonen has already beaten the Blue Jackets twice this season, and he's 4-2-1 with a .948 save percentage and 1.56 goals-against average vs. the Jackets in his career.

Side dishes:

-- Goaltender Curtis Sanford is feeling much better, Arniel, said. He stayed out on the ice with the two expected healthy scratches, defenseman Aaron Johnson and winger Dane Byers, long after practice, a sign that his hip has loosened at least little bit. Seems there's a chance he could start on New Year's Eve against Washington, but we'll see.

-- Arniel said the plan tonight vs. Lehtonen is to shoot early and often, to "send one in off his ear if you've got an odd-angle shot." In other words, they don't want to let him settle into a comfort zone in the early stages of tonight's game.

-- The Stars will be without key defensemen Stephane Robidas and Sheldon Souray, both out with leg injuries. Robidas is one of the NHL's most underrated defenseman and always draws the "Nash" assignment, while Souray has one of the NHL's biggest shots. Those are two big losses for the Stars.

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